min/micro atx recommendations

Much to my chagrin the wife wants to purchase a micro (mini?) ATX based
system for placement upstairs to keep an eye on the kids while they are
using the computer. Don't know squat about the shortcomings of such a
system other than limited slots and, I suspect, somewhat limited
horsepower (but likely quicker than current AMD 900 TBird desktop unit).

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Stephen Tomchuk wrote:
> Much to my chagrin the wife wants to purchase a micro (mini?) ATX
> based system for placement upstairs to keep an eye on the kids while
> they are using the computer. Don't know squat about the shortcomings
> of such a system other than limited slots and, I suspect, somewhat
> limited horsepower (but likely quicker than current AMD 900 TBird
> desktop unit).
>
> Any comments or observations welcome.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve

I suggest a barebones Shuttle PC...they can be very good computers
(they even have an Athlon 64 version either out, or coming soon). You
are limited to shorter video cards (and they can't use 2 slots like some
of the newer Nvidia cards), and 2 pci devices, 1 hard drive and 1
floppy, or 2 hard drives (no floppy), and 1 optical drive. Some others
out there have a little more room for a bigger footprint (non-Shuttle).
I might be wrong about the 2 slot thing as you might just end up losing
a PCI slot. They come with everytthing you need...just add processor,
video card, hard drive, floppy or USB reader, and optical drive.
Onboard they have an excellent 5.1 or 6.1 sound system, and a bevy of
ports from USB 2.0 to Firewire, so no need to add extra PCI cards for
such features. Look around here:

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